Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. Used to indicate ability or permission in the past: I could run faster then. Only men could go to the club in those days.
- v. Used with hypothetical or conditional force: If we could help, we would.
- v. Used to indicate tentativeness or politeness: I could be wrong. Could you come over here?
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Preterit of can.
Wiktionary
- v. Simple past of can.
- v. Used to politely ask for permission to do something.
- v. Used to politely ask for someone else to do something.
- v. Used to show the possibility that something might happen.
- v. Used to suggest something.
GNU Webster's 1913
- Was, should be, or would be, able, capable, or susceptible. Used as an auxiliary, in the past tense or in the conditional present.
Etymologies
- From Middle English coude, from Old English cuþ, preterite form of cunnan ("to be able"). The addition of the silent 'l' was likely a misappropriation attempting to normalize with modal verbs will/would and shall/should. However, while the letter l was historically pronounced in the latter two, can never did have an l sound in it. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“I don't know if I could get you a gig there, but if I *could* would you want to?”
“I used to always wonder why I could be so awful to my family my parents, my sister, and I think it's because I knew I *could* be so mean to them & they would always be there.”
“This means that when we speak of a person's actions, in most cases he could have done otherwise, given the Stoics 'analysis of ˜could™ and other modal concepts.”
“Not outlandishly fast, but fast enough that adaptation could *could*–it is unclear be fairly difficult.”
“Yes priceless could be ..could be .. or worthless could also be .”
operation global media domination: didja miss me? « raincoaster
“Ben#17…a close friend of mine is in the same boat as your sister…and I agree….but notice—you even stated “could”…….that is what is the problem for most people…..could…I hope “will” can replace “could”….”
Think Progress » Bush Administration Invents New Excuse To Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research
“But a moment's further consideration convinced him that it could not be so: he _could_ move his body a little, although when he tried to sit up, something stopped him, pulled his spine straight, pulled his arms and shoulders back down from where he'd raised them.”
Asimov's Science Fiction
“From her promise once given she felt no change of purpose could absolve her; and therefore rarely would she give it absolutely, for she _could not_ alter the thing that had gone forth from her lips.”
“She could not -- _could_ not -- go to Paris with this man, who for all his devotion was a stranger to her.”
“She did not wish to tell a falsehood, and yet she felt that she could not, _could_ not confess now.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘could’.
-
EN - Glasgow stop list
Words to be replaced by a paragraph mark if you are after terms and MWEs.
about, above, across, after, afterwards, again, against, all, almost, alone, along, already and 291 more...
-
EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
-
Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
-
Resident Pipsiculturalist Makes Huge ...
See comments on pipsiculture and homosexuality, which have nothing to do with each other except that I read comments on them at around the same time on the same day.
See also the list ...heterosexuality, homosexuality, agriculture, argumentative, that, article, thus, make, do, the, interesting, like and 106 more...
-
strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
-
aparrish's Words
the, this, and, a, that, i, me, you, him, her, she, he and 96 more...
-
The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
-
courtneyah's Words
sigh, troglodyte, lithe, cambium, bark, poem, trochee, minute, ablution, hermeneutic, dogwood, mystique and 98 more...
-
US - national anthem vocabulary
All words and phrases (except the most common articles and prepositions)
For a word frequency analysis see:
air, band, foe, banner, battle, battle's~confusion, beam, blest, blood, blow, bomb, brave and 174 more... -
sagingnamaypuso's list
affection, trust, hate, faith, cheat, betray, yes, no, stop, don't, come, mine, yours, math, sum, equals, times
good, baddest, orgasm, clit, pussy, misconstrue, latex, crib, hot, cold, conspicuous, war and 16 more...
-
OM1 Lesson 7
limp, ankle, twist, light bulb, balance, lose, ladder, fall off, cart, shopping cart, meat, snacks and 11 more...
-
Silent bits and pieces
Some letters are just too naturally loud to have their own lists.
faux, should, would, could, yacht, wednesday, debris, island, almond, calm, aisle, llama and 1 more...
-
OM1 Lesson 6
missing, concert, purse, find, key, everywhere, could, embarrassed, envelope, thought, realize, everything and 11 more...
-
firmon
should, could, will, betrayed, at, an, behind, a, become, always
Tweets
Looking for tweets for could.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.